Conventional approaches for maintaining (e.g., repairing, refurbishing or otherwise machining) turbomachines (e.g., gas turbines, blowers, etc.) are deficient. Turbomachines include a rotor and a stator each with associated components which are used to translate the fluid motion of a gas into the rotary motion of the turbine's shaft. The rotor includes a rotor body (also referred to as a rotor wheel) surrounding the shaft, and a plurality of blades extending radially from the wheel.
During its operational lifetime, turbine rotors (along with other components) may be repaired and/or refurbished. Sometimes, repair/refurbishment involves removing blades from the rotor wheel, and replacing those blades with either rehabilitated or altogether new blades. However, during repair/refurbishment of blades, the rotor wheel can become damaged, and in some cases, is discarded. No current approach exists for preventing or remedying this damage.